This is a follow up blog post to the events that have occurred in Ferguson, Missouri where Officer Darrin Wilson shot and killed Michael Brown.
The purpose of this blog is not to decide guilt or innocence. A grand jury has already ruled on this case just as has every person in this society. Instead of making such arguments, let’s take a step back and look at this from a sociological perspective. I don’t have the answers, I just have questions. Questions that maybe you can help me with…
Sociological Questions: My first question is, how did we get here? How did we get to the point in America in 2014 where rational people can watch the same event and come up with two completely different conclusions? Why is it that Fox News reports it one way and CNN reports the same story using a completely different narrative? Why, generally speaking, does a white person come to completely different conclusion than a black person? My answer is simple – a person’s life experiences and perceptions shape a person’ reality. Regardless of the evidence or the way a grand jury ruled, it would not overcome a person’s biases, perceptions and thus his/her version of reality. Here are the two narratives that I hear:
Narrative #1: There is an unequal justice system in America where predominantly white politicians and law enforcement use power and force to keep black people and minorities in their place. Police officers unfairly use racial profiling and force to do their jobs. As such, Officer Darrin Wilson used prejudice eyes when he confronted Michael Brown in the street. Officer Wilson stereotyped Michael Brown as a thug… gangsta… hoodlum who was up to no good. Officer Wilson’s racist-colored glasses conditioned the way he interacted with Michael Brown and ultimately why he gunned him down with little or no provocation. There is still one eye-witness who claims Michael Brown had his arms raised in a surrender position when he was killed. This is another tragic story of an innocent young black man killed by a racist cop who over-reacted. This case represents the continuing inequities in America and fits the Civil Rights narrative.
Narrative #2: Michael Brown robbed a convenient store and man-handled the owner as he exited the building. Responding to the call, Officer Brown responded appropriately by cutting off their route with his car. After a brief exchange, Michael Brown reached into the car and wrestled Officer Wilson (which is a felony) for the gun and two shots were fired. Brown began to run away. Officer Wilson pulled his weapon and ordered Michael Brown to stop. Michael Brown turned and taunted the officer. He then rushed the officer from 25 feet away. Officer Wilson shot him several time in the arm and shoulder. Michael Brown stopped momentarily and then continued to charge the officer. With Michael Brown closing to within 10 feet, Officer Wilson delivered a fatal shot. This is not about black or white. It is not about an innocent man and a racist cop. This is about a 6 foot 6, 240 lb. man who was high (drugs found in his system), had just robbed a store, strong-armed a clerk, assaulted an officer and then rushed the same officer who had a gun pointed at him. A grand jury of 12 peers listened to all of the forensic evidence and eye-witness accounts and found insufficient evidence to even put Officer Wilson on trail. This is a clear case of an officer using lethal force to protect his own life in the line of duty.
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Keeping the sociological perspective in mind, how would you explain this entire case to an alien from another planet who had no idea about our customs, traditions, laws and ideological differences? Specifically:
A. How would you explain how people can hear the same story and come to such different conclusions?
B. Why a person’s skin color, previous experiences or political party would alter a person’s perceptions to the point that their viewpoint becomes reality?
C. How would you explain the 1) peaceful demonstration and protests and 2) the unpeaceful demonstrations and protests that occurred in Ferguson after the verdict was announced?
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A. I would explain how people hear the same story and come to such different conclusions by if someone is dancing with friends and falls down, one girl said she tripped on something and the other girl says that someone pushed her. Everyone has a different way of seeing everything that is not the real story like she could of fallen on purpose.
B. History changes a lot over time and things that are not true become true even though there is a real truth.
C. Peaceful demonstration and protest are things that do not cause damage to property or impede non protesters movement around the city. Un-peaceful causes damage to property streets and cars, people also block roadways and don’t listen to authority.
1. Everyone has different experiences with life and interpret things differetnly
2. Beacuse that is their culture
3. Freely giving your opinion without aggression or anger, the opposite
A. I would explain how people can hear the same story and come to such different conclusions by everybody looking at the story their own way because they believe in different ideas than other people.
B. A person’s previous experiences alter a person’s perceptions to the point that their viewpoint becomes reality because they think of whatever happened in the past and what they believe in and they assume whether they’re innocent or guilty so then that becomes their truth.
C. I would explain peaceful demonstration and protests after the verdict was announced by saying that news channels explain whether they think who is innocent or guilty and they protest against the one that they think is guilty and they peacefully demonstrate who is innocent.
A.They can have a different mindset.
B.because he has already been through it so it might even be worse.
C.i would explain it like colored people and white people had some problems white people had more controll of colored people so we had protest for everyone to be equal and the colored one that protest because of MLKJ and now people are equal.
A: They have opposing views.
B: It can alter someone’s perception because when something bad happens like that especially what happened with the riots, you start to think if it happened again if you would do the same thing
C: Peaceful protests are protests that people state their opinions peacefully with out doing damage to property. Unpeaceful protests are protests that do damage to property and sometimes even people.
A.)people can have two different outcome because of how they learned about situations and when they approach the situation.
B.)some people think if a black man is shot by a office of the law that it was for no reason but if there is a eyewitness saying that the man was doing something illegal and threatened or charged the officer and he was shot it would become a different story.
C.) 1.)I would have took a video and then showed on what happened.
C.) 2.)their where riots and people caught places on fire because a black man was shot and killed by a white officer.
A) People could have two different outcomes depending on how they were taught to handle the situation.
B) People develop biases based on who they are. This could alter their perception.
C) 1. I would have took the video and showed what happened.
2. There were riots because a black man was shot and killed by a white officer.
A) People could have two different outcomes depending on how they want to handle it.
B) People develop opinions based on who they are. This could alter their perception.
C) 1. I would have took the video and showed what happened.
2. There were riots because a black man was shot and killed by a white officer.
A.They probally can have a different thoughts and mindsets.
B.because he has already experienced it, it could be worse.
C.i would take the video and explain why happened.
There were riots because a officer shot a black man
A.They can have a different thoughts and mindsets.
B.because he has already experienced it, it could be worse.
C.i would take the video and explain why happened.
There were riots because a officer shot a black man
A. People handle different situations differently.
B. If someone is biased, it can alter someone.
C. 1. Yes, I would look at it.
2. A white police officer shot a black man.
A.They can have a different mindset.
B.because he has already been through it so it might even be worse.
C.i would explain it like colored people and white people had some problems white people had more controll of colored people so we had protest for everyone to be equal and the colored one that protest because of MLKJ and now people are equal.
A.They can have a different mindset.
B.because he has already been through it so it might even be worse.
C.i would explain it like colored people and white people had some problems white people had more controll of colored people so we had protest for everyone to be equal and the colored one that protest because of MLKJ and now people are equal.
I think they had problems, but they could have put their differences aside and just be friends.
they can have the same mindset
A.They probally can have a different thoughts and mindsets.
B.because he has already experienced it, it could be worse.
C.i would take the video and explain why happened.
There were riots because a officer shot a black man
A. I would explain how people can hear the same story with different conclusions because peoples have different explanation and different mindsets.
B. Some peoples come from different race of the family and has a different languages
C. Peaceful protests is when a person give their opinions about something and Unpeaceful protests is when he/she is not sure if its their opinion or not.
A.)people can have two different outcome because of how they learned about situations and when they approach the situation.
B.)because he has already been through it so it might even be worse.
C) 1. I would have took the video and showed what happened.
2. There were riots because a black man was shot and killed by a white officer
A.) The way they take in the story or they way their mindset is.
B.) Some people are just raised different or just come from different race of the family and has a different languages.
C.) Peaceful protests are protests that people state their opinions peacefully with out doing damage to property. Unpeaceful protests are protests that do damage to property and sometimes even people.
A.) The way they take in the story or they way their mindset is.
B.) Some people are just raised different or just come from different race of the family and has a different languages.
C.) Peaceful protests are protests that people state their opinions.
A.) The way the mind is thinking of the story.
B.) Because he has already experienced it, it could be worse.
C.) Peaceful protests are just protests that people state their opinions.
A. People can explain it in different ways because they already put in there head what is right and wrong before any of the facts are put out there.
B. Because there have been cases in the past where it is clear and obvious racism played a part and it is easy to assume that sadly now a days.
C. the people protesting not as peacefully took it really personal and felt like they killed one of there family members. the people who protested peacefully just want change in society and don’t think violent protesting is the answer.
Keeping the sociological perspective in mind, how would you explain this entire case to an alien from another planet who had no idea about our customs, traditions, laws and ideological differences? Specifically:
A. How would you explain how people can hear the same story and come to such different conclusions? People can hear the same story and come to a different conclusion because the country is simply divided. Some people think that it was all one person’s fault or the only one person was in the wrong. Then you have CNN and Fox reporting 2 completely different stories.
B. Why a person’s skin color, previous experiences or political party would alter a person’s perceptions to the point that their viewpoint becomes reality? Police officers clearly have had a past of targeting black people so obviously their going to say they were right no matter what. On the flip side it’s not like their just killing a bunch of innocent men. Even though they may be committing a crime, some police officers take it way too far.
C. How would you explain the 1) peaceful demonstration and protests and 2) the unpeaceful demonstrations and protests that occurred in Ferguson after the verdict was announced? The peaceful protest are simply for letting them know that the police officer was in the wrong for shooting him and these injustices need to stop. The unpeaceful protests are probably led by people who were related to Michael Brown and they probably want a little revenge.
1, Everyone has different experiences with life and see things differently
2. Because that is how they live
3. Freely giving your opinion without aggression.
A. Because some people get opinions from their parents and don’t have an open mind to looking at it from a different point of view.
B. Because racism has definitely played a part in a couple cases in the past and so now people just assume that all the deaths are because of racism.
C.The peaceful protest is people that just want them to know that they were in the wrong. The unpeaceful protests are the people that want revenge.
1. I believe this is because of perspectives. Everyone has a different perspective of a situation and different views on what was right or wrong. Hearing the different sides could be confusing or misleading.
2. There have been stories and cases where an individual was treated unfairly because of race or wrongly accused.
3. With protesting peacefully the people received a voice vs the people that were violent.
1. I believe this is because of perspectives. Everyone has a different perspective of a situation and different views on what was right or wrong. Hearing the different sides could be confusing or misleading.
2. There have been stories and cases where an individual was treated unfairly because of race or wrongly accused which gives them different stories and perspectives.
3. With protesting peacefully the people received a voice vs the people that were violent.
A. How would you explain how people can hear the same story and come to such different conclusions? People perceive things differently and there may be several factors such as discrimination, personal beliefs, or even incompetence.
B. Why a person’s skin color, previous experiences or political party would alter a person’s perceptions to the point that their viewpoint becomes reality? They will carry these moments in every interaction in the future, with the common trauma. In their real life, these actions come into play in small things like job interactions, friendships, or even relationship ideals.
C. How would you explain the 1) peaceful demonstration and protests and 2) the unpeaceful demonstrations and protests that occurred in Ferguson after the verdict was announced? Peaceful demonstrations involve no violence, while making the mission clear. Unpeaceful protests involve force and violence to be heard, are normally caused because of mission being ignored in status or importance.
1) they can have different mindsets
2)because that is how certain people live
3)freely giving your opinion whiteout aggression
1. Although people can hear the same story, their morals, ethics, and overall personality determines how thy interpret/perceive it.
2. A black man’s perspective of police brutality is different than that of a racist white man. Some people become so bias based on their background that they allow those biases to speak for them rather than reality.
3. Peaceful demonstration is voicing your outrage to the government in a well mannered and articulate way. Unpeaceful demonstration is showing your outrage through acts of violence.
1. everyone has different experiences with life
2. there have been different cases that where the person was wrongly accused because of the color of their skin
3. protest where people speak their opinion and protest where people are hurt
1. Although people hear they same story, depending on their race, they could interpret it a different way.
2. There has been different cases and a person could be accused wrong because of their race.
3. One could protest on what they believe in but not one of violence.
THEY DID NOT LISEN
THEY DO NOTLIKE
NOT GOOG AND MAD
It was about how a crazy situation goes bad because people need more tolerance.
this shows tolerance because the police had tolerance against the critics assuming the police was rasict
1. The way I would explain it is everyone sees everyone in a different way then the next person
2. Different people think about things differently, and see things differently
3. Protests where people can voice there opinion while still being under control and not being violent, and protests where there is violence, and more crimes happening.
1 Everyone has different experiences with life and interpret things differetnly
2. Different people think about things differently, and see things differently
3. One could protest on what they believe in but not one of violence.
!. they have a different mindset on people then
2.Because they are small minded
3 The peaceful were for the peace to be kept and not effect the trial 2 they were angry at the verdict
This article can show tolerance, and that people need more tolerance. People can handle situations better, like in this story.
by git that by a ery liyt serso
i don’t now how a poepl sing culker can a faet the way that sing to the piwls
i do not now how to a sint that for a paly uing